Gringo speaking Spanish status

[Chip00]

I just thought I'd share with you my status on speaking and understanding Spanish after being a year here inthe DR in Santiago where NOBODY speaks English.

First my background - I learned Spanish at the ripe old age of 34 when I met my future wife (although I had some 5 odd years of studying French). I also NEVER formally studied Spanish in class but being a technician by nature, I bought a grammar book and started from the beginning to the end as if I was really in a class and did all of the required homework exercises. I have been married to my Dominican wife for 7 years now and I would say that I'm probably above average intelligence in most things(but not all unfortuantely).

Contrary to some detractors, I have been able to recognize accents and in fact do it easily now even among Dominicans. I also recognize my own accent when I am speaking. I am NOT considered fluent by most Dominicans(unless you speak w/o an accent forget it!) but the general population seems to understand me for the most part(at least after a second more correct pronunciation, haha).

I realize and am somewhat content that I can't speak as a native but that doesn't keep me from trying darnet! Also, the ultimate compliment is when people ask me if I am a "dominicanyork" - a person raised by Dominicans in NY.

So they you go fellow DR1'ers - stick to the grindstone and STUDY like I have and you can have similar results! Best of luck!

[laurapasinifan]

I found just repeating "SI and smiling" when ever anyone talks to you , works fine.....................

other than that get your significant other to learn your language ha ha ha

that worked good for me

bob

[Kyle]

as a tourist, i get ask the "dominican york" question all the time. maybe it's my tan

i think after 11 trips to the DR my span-glish has improved tremendously which i now find myself speaking more span-glish here in the US. for you guys and ladies that live there, you should be pretty fluent.

Chip, i think if i married a dominican lady like you did, i would think that when she get's mad at me we would need a translator for the first few months

[Sholly24]

In my opinion, I think that learning to speak a language correctly and understanding others and being understood is more important than having an accent or speaking like a native.

I have been studying spanish now for about 3 years but really got serious with it about a year ago. I was learning by myself for about 2 years (sort of in a lazy way) and I got to a stage when I felt like I had reached a hump and I needed someone to take me over the hump and a little bit over a year ago I got a professional spanish teacher who helped in working with my pronounciation and getting a fundamental grasp of the language. I really believe that it is better to learn and speak a language the correct way and not in the street way. For example in most countries i.e Puerto Rico, the DR and Cuba, it is very common for people to drop the 's' and 'r' in many words but I personally would never speak the language like that nor want to learn it like that. I also think that an accent is something to be proud of because it identifies oneself and if I were to live somewhere else and was given the choice to keep my accent or to lose it, I definitely would prefer to keep it. My accent identifies me as a person and I am not prepared to lose it for anything.

I really like it when I open my mouth and I sound different. When I sound like who I really am.

[Chip00]

Originally Posted by Sholly24

I really like it when I open my mouth and I sound different. When I sound like who I really am.

As learning a new language depends a lot on personal confidence that's a good attitude to have. Also, you don't have to worry about trying to speak perfectly without an accent just correctly - which is the most important for sure.

[CFA123]

Originally Posted by Chip00

...here inthe DR in Santiago where NOBODY speaks English.

Chip,
Just to clarify, you're referring to your immediate environment - neighbors, family, friends - right? When I was living there, I was impressed by the # of people who spoke English well enough to carry a conversation, and often very well, even some who have never left the island.

[Chip00]

Originally Posted by CFA123

Chip,
Just to clarify, you're referring to your immediate environment - neighbors, family, friends - right? When I was living there, I was impressed by the # of people who spoke English well enough to carry a conversation, and often very well, even those who have never left the island.

No I am talking about people in general here in Santiago. I have rarely met a person that can carry on a decent converstion in English here other than at Fedex or at my daughter's bilingual school. Also, my definition of a decent conversation is typically much more than pleasantries and "where is the bathroom".

In fact I do not know if I have as of yet to meet a Dominican here that speaks English well here that has not travelled abroad unfortunately. For that reason we will be sending our daughters to the States for at least a year or two of English when they get in high school. Otherwise I'm afraid the most advanced that I've seen that it will get is "resort English".

[something_of_the_night]

Originally Posted by Chip00

In fact I do not know if I have as of yet to meet a Dominican here that speaks English well here that has not travelled abroad unfortunately.

The Kid knows lots of people in Higuey who have never left the island but who speak English very, very well. And I'm not exaggerating.

[Chip00]

Originally Posted by something_of_the_night

The Kid knows lots of people in Higuey who have never left the island but who speak English very, very well. And I'm not exaggerating.

I don't doubt that and I don't doubt that there are alot here in Santiago either - I hear children at my daughter's school speaking English but I am sure all of them who speak it well have lived abroad. However, in my rounds around town, including the golf course where there are typically a lot of rich businessmen, doctors and lawyers I just haven't had much luck. In fact I passed by an English academy in Santiago close to the hospital and I was surprised that it appeared that none of the administers felt comfortable enough to speak with me in English.

I have a lot of people ask me what country I'm from after they hear me speak so maybe my accent isn't a dead giveaway that I'm American so therefore they don't try their English on me, who knows?

Also, I really don't get to go by the normal tourist areas like hotels and the like but I would imagine that they should have people who speak English well. It could also be that Santiago really is not a tourist town so people don't get a whole lot of practice.

When a person does find out that I'm American and tries their English on me I usually oblige them by responding and helping them if need be. To many Dominicans this is very important and I always encourage them to practice and study as much as possible.

And finally, my wife's cousin that lived in Moca when I lived there probably spoke the best English of any Dominican that I have met but it wasn't very sophisticated at that time. However, that was 7 years ago and now he lives in the US with his American wife and two children and his English has improved a great deal to the point where one can actually have a meaningful discussion.

[CFA123]

Originally Posted by Chip00

In fact I do not know if I have as of yet to meet a Dominican here that speaks English well here that has not travelled abroad unfortunately.

Granted, Chip, most I met were in the free zones, and then through friends I made over time, but they are out there. There seem to be more under 35 speaking English, probably due to the influence of satellite television, music & that new-fangled thing, the internet. For those over 35 who speak English, many seem to have learned it over time for business purposes, having not grown up with much U.S. television or the internet.

And, it's not just English, many are multi-lingual with ability to speak English, French, Italian. The majority of these, however, are middle class and up and have decent educations. Know of several people as well that sent their young kids to summer camps in the U.S. & Canada with the main purpose being for them to learn English - literally dropping them into the camp environment at 6-8 years old speaking no English whatsoever.

Originally Posted by Chip00

so therefore they don't try their English on me, who knows?

Had that happen on multiple occasions - have several conversations with someone in my struggling Spanish before they'd all of a sudden greet me one day in English. I guess they realized it was less painful to speak English than to listen to my Spanish!

I didn't mean to hijack your thread... I do envy your growing proficiency in Spanish and hope I can get there one of these days. I stopped to talk to the security guard on the way in the other night & he told me, sincerely I think, that my Spanish was very good. I proceeded to tell him 'Gracias, pero mi vocabulario es muy limitado...' I'm still not sure he realizes that I exhausted all of my possible Spanish conversational avenues in about 10 minutes of conversation